"Comebacks are difficult because people judge you very quickly" - Aakash Chopra lauds Varun Chakaravarthy's spell in IND vs BAN 2024 1st T20I

Aakash Chopra has lauded Varun Chakaravarthy for making an excellent comeback in the first T20I between India and Bangladesh in Gwalior on Sunday, October 6. He pointed out that fans' quick judgments and players' self-doubts make comebacks tough.

Chakaravarthy registered figures of 3/31 in four overs as India bundled Bangladesh out for 127 after asking them to bat first. Suryakumar Yadav and company achieved the target with seven wickets and 8.1 overs to spare to register a comprehensive win.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra noted that Chakaravarthy deserves as much praise as Arshdeep Singh (3/14 in 3.5 overs) for his bowling performance.

"Arshdeep was very, very good and so was Varun Chakaravarthy. He needs to be spoken about because he made a comeback. Comebacks are difficult because people judge you very quickly. Since they have seen your downfall, they write you off very quickly," he reasoned (5:55).

The former India opener pointed out that there was also a question mark whether the Tamil Nadu mystery spinner would be preferred over Ravi Bishnoi.

"Secondly, you also get self-doubts as you are waiting for such a long time. If one thing goes wrong, it seems like everything will go downhill. There was a question for sure whether he would get an opportunity to play ahead of Ravi Bishnoi. Ravi Bishnoi was ahead in the pecking order and he too has picked up a lot of wickets," Chopra observed.

India opted to play Chakaravarthy and Washington Sundar as their two spinners in the first T20I against Bangladesh. The latter bowled only two overs, picking up a wicket and conceding 12 runs.

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"15 runs went in the first over and you start thinking - Ouch, this wasn't good" - Aakash Chopra on Varun Chakaravarthy

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Varun Chakaravarthy was denied a wicket due to a dropped catch and conceded 15 runs in his first over.

"However, Varun Chakaravarthy played and Nitsh Reddy couldn't hold on to a catch in his first over. 15 runs went in the first over and you start thinking - Ouch, this wasn't good, but he made a comeback after that," he said.

The renowned commentator praised the Kolkata Knight Riders spinner for scalping three wickets after the initial setback.

"So after a comeback, he made another mini-comeback as the first over was expensive, but then you came back and picked up three wickets. A wrong shot was played, a slightly fuller delivery was played off the back foot, and the batter was caught in the deep. After that, he bowled a good googly, and then luck was in his favor slightly," Chopra elaborated.

Chakaravarthy had Towhid Hridoy caught by Hardik Pandya at long-on in his second over. He dismissed Jaker Ali and Rishad Hossain in his last two overs to complete the three-wicket haul.